Loose Wet
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
- Hochgebirge
- Waldgrenze
- Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
- Wahrscheinlichkeit
- Possible
- Größe
- 3
The snowpack is not going to like all this warm weather and is likely going to become unstable. Avalanches breaking to the ground are likely over the next few days. Timing is difficult but my best bet is we start seeing these on Sunday. Here are the indicators for these wet avalanches:
- A persistent weak layer exists at the base of the snowpack.
- We are experiencing very warm weather. As a rule of thumb, three consecutive nights with no re-freeze is generally when we start seeing natural wet slab avalanche activity.
- There has been one natural wet slab avalanche that already released earlier this week in lower elevation terrain. This is an indicator that the higher terrain may follow suit with this warmer weather.
The good news is that not that many people get killed or injured in these wet avalanches because generally the riding conditions are not very good and people are usually not out in the mountains when these release. However, if you are going into the mountains this weekend, stay off of steep slopes to avoid potential trouble.